15 Facts About Benny Malakoane

Benjamin "Benny" Malakoane is a South African politician and medical doctor who served in the Free State Executive Council from 2004 to 2005 and from 2013 to 2019.

Between 2013 and 2018, he faced criminal charges in connection with alleged procurement corruption at Matjhabeng Local Municipality, where Benny Malakoane served as municipal manager from 2007 to 2010 during a hiatus from legislative politics.

Benny Malakoane is from Kroonstad in the former Orange Free State.

Benny Malakoane is a medical doctor: he completed his MBChB at the Medical University of Southern Africa, as well as a Master's in family medicine at the University of the Free State.

Benny Malakoane was first appointed to the Free State Executive Council on 3 May 2004, when Premier Beatrice Marshoff announced her cabinet following her election in the 2004 general election.

Benny Malakoane named Malakoane as Member of the Executive Council for Tourism, Environmental and Economic Affairs.

Benny Malakoane remained in that position only until Marshoff's first reshuffle in early April 2005, when he was sacked from the Executive Council.

Benny Malakoane did not serve out the remainder of the legislative term as an ordinary Member of the Provincial Legislature: instead, in 2007, he left the provincial legislature to become municipal manager at Matjhabeng Local Municipality.

Benny Malakoane did not initially secure re-election to the Free State Provincial Legislature after the 2009 general election, but instead continued as Matjhabeng municipal manager until 2010, when he was appointed chief executive officer at Bloemwater, a state-owned entity where he had previously served as chairperson of the board from 2009.

However, towards the end of the legislative term, in March 2013, Benny Malakoane was returned to the Executive Council by Marshoff's successor, Premier Ace Magashule, who appointed Benny Malakoane as MEC for Health; that position had been vacant since Fezi Ngumbentombi's death in December 2012.

Weeks after his appointment as MEC, on 10 July 2013, Benny Malakoane was arrested at his home by the Hawks.

Benny Malakoane was released on bail and trialled in the Welkom and Bloemfontein Regional Courts.

The ANC denied that Benny Malakoane had been removed from the health portfolio because of the public campaign against him.

Benny Malakoane was named as MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Benny Malakoane remained in that post for one year: in the 2019 general election, he was ranked 24th on the ANC's party list and did not secure re-election to his seat in the provincial legislature.